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Birthright thus far has been an absolutely incredible experience. On Tuesday, 6/2 we spent the evening preparing to meet the Israeli soldiers that became a part of this journey with us the following morning. Then later that evening, following dinner, we were given the opportunity to have a leisure night in the city of Tiberius. There we were able to get a peak into Israeli night life and all of the fun that goes into it. It was so incredible to see how different it was from night life back at home. This was definitely one of the most exciting nights for all of us.
The following morning, on Wednesday 6/3, we picked up our Israeli soldiers! We greeted them with a warm welcome and they were easily the sweetest people I've ever met! All seven soldiers have a different personality and they are all so personable. We started off with various ice breakers with the Israeli soldiers as we arrived to our next destination, the Banyas hike. We were then able to get to know them better and they were able to get to know us as well. Then we began an absolutely breathtaking hike. We walked through various suspended bridges to see all different parts of nature. The end of the hike was beautiful. We walked all the way to a waterfall. There we took so many photos as we were able to capture the scenery in front of us. After the hike we stopped for lunch in a nearby mall where we were able to walk around. There was a place to grab fast food upstairs, there were shops to look around at, and there was a cafe with a lovely view. Many of us, like myself, went to the cafe for lunch. The food was delicious and I was able to taste food that I've never had before. I also discovered how great Israeli iced coffee is!
After lunch we went water rafting and it was probably the most fun I've had on the trip so far! It was six people per raft and we were able to ride with all of the new friends we just met. Like most sports and activities are, it was quite competitive! My group started off strong in the beginning but we ended up coming in last! However, it definitely didn't make the experience any less enjoyable.
After rafting, we got back onto the bus and we headed to the Lebanon border. It was crazy to find out how close Lebanon and Israel are. There was one fence that separated the two, very different countries. We were up so high the view was remarkable. There we had a former Israeli soldier, who now works in the kibbutz speak to us. He had very strong opinions, but all which he was entitled too. It was really interesting to listen to what he had to say, even if all of us didn't necessarily agree with him. Then after dinner, we spent the remainder of the night with our Israeli soldiers doing an activity that they had kindly planned for us. Their activity included learning about different facts about Israel that we might not have known prior. I learned all about where different cities are, what food's are common to eat in Israel, and what a soldier would wear. The next morning, Thursday, 6/4 we are going to visit the city of Tzfat.